Go-Ahead to buy Ipswich buses

A new sister for Plymouth Citybus?

It seems that Go-Ahead have got a bit of a taste for ex council owned bus companies as less than a month after finally getting their hands on Plymouth Citybus it now looks like they are about to buy Ipswich buses from the local council: The Evening Star can today reveal that talks have been going on between the borough and transport giant Go Ahead, with the firm expected to take over the operation of most of the bus services in the town. Go Ahead has services across the country - mainly in towns and cities - and earlier this month took over the bus services run by Plymouth City Council. The number of council-owned bus companies has fallen steadily since bus company deregulation in 1986 - Ipswich Buses is one of just 11 council-owned companies in Britain. The figures involved in the buy-out have not been revealed. But the Star understands that the deal is near completion and a formal announcement is expected early in the New Year. 1880: First tramway opened in Ipswich. 1903: Ipswich Corporation took over tramway, converted it to electricity and opened new routes. 1926: Tram system closed, all vehicles replaced by “trackless trams” - trolleybuses. 1950: First motorbuses run - to Maidenhall and Whitehouse, soon these services extended to the new Chantry estate. 1963: Last trolleybus service ran. 1986: Bus deregulation came in, buses no longer run directly by the council but by a council-owned company. Later that year all buses became one-person operation, conductors became a thing of the past. 2003: Ipswich Buses celebrates the centenary of council-owned transport in Ipswich. 2010: Bus company sold to Go Ahead? ©GHG343W: Ipswich Buses PJ53OLA

Recommended Links TGP Public: London Skylines Omnibuses: Topsy-turvy 2009 Omnibuses: Missed Opportunity Omnibuses: Unseasonal Snow PTOTPA: Bad parking Leon Daniels: RTW335 Plymouth Local History: Christmas during the air raids Christmas on Twitter/Facebook     First 24/12/2009 (Plymouth area only!) 08:50 Service 7 in Plymouth is not serving Marjons due to icy conditions - we really sorry for any inconvenience 08:52 Svc 7 in Plymouth is only operating to Woolwell r'about on the Tavistock Rd due to icey conditions-we are really sorry for any inconvenience 08:53 Svc 1/1A is only serving Saltash Town Centre and Latchbrook due to the ice - we are really sorry for any inconvenience 08:54 Svc 180 is only serving the main roads in Ivybridge to to - we are really sorry for any inconvenience 08:55 Svc 17 in Plymouth is not serving all roads in the Southway area due to ice - sorry for any inconvenience 09:51 Extreme conditions due to ice-there are a number of svs which are unable to operate normally - we're working on resuming normal service asap Citybus 24/12/2009 07:07 Good morning, it's a very bad morning with many areas of the City coated in ice. We currently cannot serve Eggbuckland Woodford Southway Tamerton Kings Tamerton Keswick Crescent Leatfield Drive Merafield Culver Way Austin Crescent Shallowford Road Saltash is once more out of bounds with the 26 unable to service Pillmere or Yellowtor. The 152 is main road only 07:09 Updates are coming in regularly from our drivers so please visit here regularly if you intend to go out this morning. Holly Park is now out. 07:27 We are now able to serve the whole of Southway 07:41 Longbridge Road at the rear of Marsh Mills, and the Toshiba end of Ernesettle, are out of bounds to us. 07:48 We have now pulled all buses out of Transit Way because of the icy conditions. Fortunately it does appear to be slowly starting to warm up. Fingers crossed we can soon start returning to some of the routes we have abandoned. 07:53 Due to accidents on Dunnett Road and Southway Drive we are now unable to serve the bottom of Southway. We are trying to serve the top of the estate by diverting buses via the George Hotel and Tavistock Road 08:23 Taunton Avenue in Whitleigh is now closed to us. The service 12 and 12A in Plympton has been completely withdrawn. 08:49 Thanks to the helpful residents in Holly Park who haved been out and gritted the roads themselves we are now able to send the buses back in. Thank you! 09:23 We are back in Kings Tamerton and Keswick Crescent. Thanks to BBC Radio Devon and Heart Radio who have been advertising our delays. 10:05 Deer Park Drive now closed due to a three car accident. 11:40 With the exceptions of Saltash, Whitleigh, Leatfield Drive Toshiba and Merafield - we are all back top normal. Thank you all for your patience. It has been a very busy morning here!! 12:15 We are back to normal in Saltash except for the 152 service which has to remain on the main roads. St Georges Avenue, etc will be out of bounds for some time yet. 12:20 Were are almost back to normal in Whitleigh with only the actual Green still closed to buses. 20:49 That's it for now all the buses are back in the depot and our staff are set to enjoy a well earned break with families and friends We'll be back on Sunday with a full Sunday service and we'll be busy taking our customers to the sales Please tell all your friends about our facebook page and twitter account - it's our way of keeping customers up to date Take care and enjoy the festivities Don't forget to come back! Citybus 26/12/2009 19:55 We'll be there in the morning to take you to the sales. Don't forget it's a Sunday service so you may need to check your bus times. Visit our website for full details Citybus 28/12/2009 09:35 It might be a Sunday service but Plymouth Argyle are at home to Reading today so if you are off to support the Greens don't forget all our football specials will be running for you. Can Argyle continue their winning streak? GREEN ARMY!! 17:33 Well done Plymouth Argyle a 4 -1 defeat of Reading. A cracking result. 17:39 On Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday this week we will operate a Saturday service for you. On Thursday New Years Eve we will stop running at 2000 times of the last buses are also on the website.

Enjoy the break

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas!

Its Christmas Day tomorrow which is a family day so no sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time, I have to be sociable and join in the family fun. Normal service will resume in a few days time although I am sure you will excuse me if posts are not as frequent over the Christmas period. I hope you all have a great Christmas and get what you want from Santa (I'm getting a new PC and Camera, but its got to wait till January...). Finally, just taking a look at yesterdays twitter activity from both Citybus and First you can get a flavour of just how difficult conditions have been for everyone trying to run a bus service. Big thanks therefore to the bus companies who have made  a sterling effort in keeping as many services running as possible, and of course a big thank you to all the bus drivers who have had the job of transporting customers across Plymouth on extremely icy roads. We have seen an extremely nasty accident in Cornwall where two passengers have died, and lots of 'minor' traffic accidents including a Citybus taking out several parked cars as it slid on ice at Keyham, thankfully no injuries on that one. I am sure all bus drivers will be looking forward to a couple days break even more than usual this year!

Yesterday on Twitter/Facebook First Adverse weather update - Service 35 in Cornwall has been suspended due to ice Adverse weather update - Services 25, 35, 47, 84, 85/85A, 93, 94, 95 are not operating in Cornwall due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 1/1A is not serving Oaklands Drive and Yellowtor Road in Saltash due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 4 is not serving Admiralty Road in Keyham, Plymouth due to ice Adverse weather update - Service X80 in South Devon is severely disrupted due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 93 in South Devon is severely disrupted due to ice and is not serving Aveton Gifford. Adverse weather update - Service 76 between Plymouth and Callington is not serving St Dominic due to ice Adverse weather update - Services 1/1A in Saltash are not operating via Oaklands Drive and Yellowtor Road due to ice Adverse weather update - Service Tavistock are not serving the bus station due to ice Citybus Admiralty Street Keyham closed due to icy roads and an accident Buses are unable to use Yellowtor Road Saltash due to ice 152 main road only It is likely that we will be unable to operate full routes in Plymouth due to the lack of gritting Updates here as soon as we become aware Sevice 26 unable to serve Yellowtor Road, the business park and Pillmere estate in Saltash due to icy roads. Service 22 is unable to serve the Merafield area due to icy roads Pike Road Efford closed due to an accident. Service 8 turning at Laira, service 9 using Blanford Road Services 8, 9 and 22 are back to normal. Thank you for your patience. We are trying to find out if the roads in Saltash are now open. Apologies for the delays with this update. Services are now back to normal in Saltash Thank you for your patience. The improved weather forecast should help us to improve reliability. Just a reminder all our bus services finish early on Xmas Eve see our website for full details We are having problems in Loosleigh Lane, Yeomans Way, Holly Park, St Pancras Avenue and Yellowtor Road. It looks like the icy weather has not left us yet. Buses are unable to operate in these areas and will continue to be unable to do so until the roads are gritted. Service 42 withdrawn from leatfield drive due to icy roads I'm afraid to say things are getting worse. We can no longer serve Keswick Crescent, Weston Mill, Chaucer Way, and Cobbitt Road. Our bus has just followed the gritter around Holmwood Avenue, the spinner on the lorry was working but no grit was coming out - very useful. If this continues we will have very few buses left running tonight. Check out this page tomorrow morning for updates on route problems and other operational news. We will do all we can to operate our buses but we will not jeopardise the safety of our customers or staff. Thank you for supporting Plymouth Citybus. Buses on services 46 and 47 are now unable to access the rear of the ASDA store in Estover.

First D&C Incoming Olympians

More Olympians for First Devon and Cornwall

News has come through of several more Volvo Olympian double deckers for First Devon and Cornwall. There are currently four sitting in the Plymouth depot: 34049/50/52 P249/50/52UCW which were originally new to Centrewest and 34181 S681AAE. All of these carry the smart Northern Counties Palatine2 bodywork which has to be one of the better looking bodies to grace an Olympian. It remains to be seen if any of these enter service in Plymouth or get sent down into Cornwall... ©Ian Kirby. First Bristol Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine II, Colston Avenue, Bristol, 11th June 2009

Become a Citybus Fan

Plymouth Citybus on Facebook

Continuing the mini-series looking at how our local companies are using the internet we have a look at how Plymouth Citybus are using Facebook. Citybus started their Facebook Fan Page at the same time as they went live on Twitter and most of the updates on Facebook are those that get sent out on Twitter. The big difference is that they don't have the 140 character limit that Twitter has. This morning on Twitter we have while on Facebook we get The less restrictive message length is being put to good use with additional information, resulting in a friendlier feel to it. It is worth noting that Citybus have to send the updates to both Twitter and Facebook separately as they are not allowed to link the updates as non-commercial members can. It is also clear that Facebook seems to be having the greater reach as they have 135 fans at the moment. There is a lot more to Facebook than just text updates and Citybus are beginning to make use of these. One of the most popular features of Facebook is the ability to upload photos and Citybus already have a few to view. The Citybus gallery has 20 photos so far, which I am sure will grow in the new year. The other gallery shows some of the staff in costume during the recent Mufti-day - you may well recognise a few drivers! A great way of highlighting the work that Citybus does in the community. All in all a good effort which I am sure will grow and become even more useful and entertaining over the coming year. Hopefully the link below will take you to their page... Plymouth Citybus Facebook

Further Reading Plymothian Transit: Plymouth all a Twitter Recommended Links A Transport of Delight: Stagecoach sell Long Sutton Omnibuses: On the Brink Leon Daniels: Snow Time PTOTPA: Day trip South Omnibuses: Selling Out PTOTPA Snap on Sunday Yesterday on Twitter I am now adding the previous days Tweets to each post as it gives an easier way to look back and see what was happening on any set day. It will just be the text of each message as it is just for archive purposes: Citybus: Services 58 and 59 have been withdrawn from Wotter Village due to icy conditions. Buses will use the by pass and use the by pass bus stops Due to icy roads in Saltash we are currently unable to serve Yellowtor Road with service 26 and service 152 is restricted to the main roads We are still unable to operate service 26 through Yellowtor Road service 152 stays on the main road All other services operating normally Service 26 now operating with care inbound via Yellowtor Road Saltash, still unable to operate the route outbound due to icy conditions Service 26 is now operating the normal full route in Saltash. The 152 is unfortunately still operating via the main roads only. There are short delays to all buses using Transit Way due to heavy traffic. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause A burst water main in Union Street means all services diverted via King Street An accident in Alma Road near to the Del La Hey Avenue junction is causing delays to all services using Alma Road in both directions First N DEVON X7 still unable to serve Sainsburys supermarket & the 32 unable to serve Whittingham Rd - both due to ice. We'll keep you posted Adverse Weather update - Service X7 in North Devon is still unable serve the Sainsburys Store at Mill on the Mole. Adverse Weather update - Service 32 in North Devon can now serve Whittingham Road. The road has been reopened as at 1400 Adverse weather update - Services 25, 26, 27, 47, 82/82A, 83, 84, 85/85A, 93 are delayed due to ice Adverse weather update - Services 14/18 in the Chacewater area in Cornwall are delayed due to ice Adverse weather update - Services 25, 26, 27, 47, 82/82A, 83, 84, 85/85A, 93 in Cornwall are late but running due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 68/68A in the Old Hill area of Penryn in Cornwall are delayed due to ice Adverse weather update - All Services in North Devon are operational but are delayed due to snow and ice Adverse weather update - Services 14, 18, 40 now operating as normal via Chacewater and St Day in Cornwall Adverse weather update - Service 303 will not serve Westdown Village due to ice in North Devon Adverse weather update - Service 303 is not able to serve Heanton Punchardon & Ashford due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 3 in Plymouth will b delayed as a result of the closure of Union Street by police. Adverse weather update - Service 84 in Truro suspended due to ice Adverse weather update - Service 88 in Cornwall will not operate via Malabar this evening due to ice Phew! I think when you look back at this at any time in the future it will give a good idea of how difficult it can be to run a bus service in cold weather!

Go-Ahead Q & A

Go-Ahead Plymouth boss Answers the Questions

There is a short Q&A today on This is Plymouth the future of Plymouth Citybus from the new MD: Are jobs safe? There's an agreement in place with the council that there will be no forced driver redundancies in the first 12 months. We clearly have to look at levels of support staff. There may be things that can be done more effectively. I'm still looking; it's still too early to start. I've had an initial meeting with the union Unite and as many staff as I could. I'm very much in listening mode in these first few weeks, learning about the operation. Getting to know the staff is my priority. These people have had a lot of uncertainty. People fear that you will shut down routes and raise fares. We are bound in with certain conditions of sale as to what we can do with the network. We'll only succeed by carrying passengers. There's no point in running a company like this and just cutting everything back. What we'll inevitably do is to look at the network and decide whether it's appropriate to current demand. If you go into Sainsbury's today, they won't be selling exactly the same things as they did 20 years ago. Over time we hope to grow the market and attract more people on to our buses. If we put fares up too much, people will stop using us. I've got no plans in the short term to put up fares. We will be looking at a number of ways to charge people differently and offer different products. People don't have to use our services. We have to operate in a way to make people want to use them.   You have a big site at Milehouse, probably bigger than you need. What plans do you have for the land? There are no plans to relocate and sell the site for housing.   Why is private ownership a good thing? Citybus' relatively small size made it more vulnerable to competition. First Group have been very aggressive, but they aren't dealing with a council-owned company with 170 buses any more; they're dealing with another plc. We've got the clout to take them on if that's needed. Will Citybus be run from London? The Go-Ahead model means we're part of a large organisation and can take advantage of their buying power.What separates Go-Ahead from other national transport groups is that although Citybus is part of something bigger, the model of management is one of local autonomy. Key business decisions are made in this building here at Milehouse, by people who live and work in the city. Almost everything is decided locally, including routes, the colour of the buses and the name of the company. It will remain Citybus for ever, as far as I'm concerned. Read the full article here on This is Plymouth. From the (few) drivers and other staff I have spoken to at Citybus there does seem to be a fairly positive mood at the moment that things should be OK under GA control. Of course there is still the uncertainty of job security that the MD acknowledges which is still hanging over staff, especially for non-driving staff. I still get the feeling though that staff realise it could have been a lot worse...

PTOTPA Snap on Sunday

Twittering so far

Battle of the Twits

It was back on the 10th December that I posted the arrival of both Plymouth Citybus and First D&C on Twitter. I mentioned than that First had followed Citybus but was informed by First that they were first actually, but the important fact was that both our main bus operators were now up and running on Twitter at about the same time. So about a week and a bit later, how are they actually using the service? This morning sees quite a few Tweets from both companies as the weather continues to be a problem in some areas and we have seen a road closure in Southway - an ideal situation for Twitter users. This is typical of how Citybus are using Twitter at the moment with clear details of any hold ups to services and also when services are back to normal. Again the same incident picked up by First although as of yet there is no 'all clear' message. You can also see how First cover a much larger area than just Plymouth. Both companies are using Twitter well to highlight issues like these. Although its early days to get a true image of how their Twitter usage differs these two 'key word clouds' do show slight differences between the two. Citybus are highlighting delays more prominently than First and of course are clearly Plymouth focused. First are using their Tweets to highlight both their services and also First Group promotions. I am sure neither company sees it as a race but as they both started at the same time I feel a few stats are of interest: As it stands at this moment in time Citybus have 53 followers and First have 38. Citybus have sent 32 tweets against 24 for First. Although it isn't a race in any way both companies will be looking to maximise their followers in the new year as it can prove a really useful way of getting up to date info to their passengers. First are clearly keen to get more people signed up as they are offering a months free travel on FDC: Keep up to date with service information, offers and more by following our regular tweets! And until 31st January 2010 anyone who follows us will be entered into a draw with the chance to win a FirstMonth Devon & Cornwall ticket worth £90! If you are already following us why not tell a friend and you'll both be in with the chance to win the free travel! So there you are - click the links below to follow either of both companies and get a good chance of a free months travel with FDC.(a 1 in 38 chance as it stands at the moment!) First Devon and Cornwall Twitter Plymouth Citybus Twitter

Further Reading Recommended Links Omnibuses: Islwyn Sale Hits Buffers? Omnibuses: Settling a Controversy Omnibuses: Refurbs Leon Daniels: Nostalgia PTOTPA TamarLink in the Snow PTOTPA Snap on Sunday

Sunday Best Boy!

Happy Birthday Zak!

The choice of photo today is down to my son Zak, who is SEVEN today. He wanted a photo of his favourite buses in Plymouth - the Park and Ride Enviros. Hard to believe he is seven already, equally hard to believe that these buses are now almost three years old themselves.

Every Little Helps

Citybus get Tesco Free Bus contract for 2010

If you follow Citybus on Twitter you will have seen this message yesterday: We are delighted to announce a partnership with Tesco Lee Mill & Roborough to deliver free shopper buses from Jan 18. Details early New Year. It was back on the 25th July 2008 that Citybus gave up operating the Tesco and Asda free buses. I must admit I thought it was more recent than that! Anyway all of this gves a really good excuse to post another of AECRegents excellent photos: ©AECRegent. 129, Milehouse, July 1993 Click the photo to go to AECRegents Flickr account to explore more great photos.

Further Reading Plymothian Transit: Citybus Changes (End to free Tesco buses!)   Recommended Links Quite a few to catch up on... Omnibuses: Get Smart A Transport of Delight: Revenue stream Omnibuses: A Rare Toppling Omnibuses: Family Friendly Travel A Transport of Delight: TM Travel sold PTOTPA: FDC Repaints Leon Daniels: How I learned about engineering (Nice post!)

Go Ahead Profits update - looking good!

Go Ahead profits in line with expectations

THE transport firm that bought Plymouth Citybus is set to announce a profit of more than £30million on its bus business for the past six months. The giant Go-Ahead Group plc paid £20.2million for Citybus earlier this month. The firm's pre-close trading update today said it expects the first half operating profit in its bus operations to be slightly ahead of that made in the first half of 2008/9: £31.4million. The report said the firm had made "significant operational achievements" and that trading was "in line with expectations". A Go-Ahead spokesman said: "We are pleased with these achievements, which mark significant progress in delivering our strategy. "We remain on track to report a profit before tax and exceptional items for the first half of the year in line with our expectations." The firm said revenue from its regulated London bus operations had risen by between six and seven per cent, in the past six months and is expected to be slightly ahead of the 2008/9 total: £6.7million. "We expect our bus operations to remain strong in the second half of this year and to benefit from a full year of acquisition contributions, and a fully hedged reduction in fuel costs of around £6million, in the next financial year." He added: "Our cashflow and balance sheet remains strong and underpins our dividend policy, and our financing is secure through to 2012. "We will continue with our focus on service quality, cost savings and financial discipline and remain confident in the underlying strengths of our business." This is Plymouth Go Ahead's own press statement for the Bus Division: Our bus operations continue to perform well and the first half operating profit* is now expected to be slightly ahead of the first half of last year (H1 2008/9: £31.4m). In our regulated London bus operations, first half revenue growth is anticipated to be 6-7% and mileage to be up around 5%, of which contribution from acquisitions represents around 1 percentage point since completion on 1 October 2009. Underlying growth is benefitting from an increase in mileage, in part due to the phasing of contract wins and losses. Quality incentive targets continue to become more challenging, although our performance to date has been particularly strong and quality incentive revenue for the first half of this year is likely to be slightly ahead of the first half of last year (H1 2008/9: £6.7m). Our deregulated bus operations are also performing well, with first half revenue growth expected to be around 7% and passenger numbers to increase by approximately 5%, of which around 1 percentage point is due to the acquisition of Plymouth CityBus from 1 December 2009. Underlying demand continues to grow from both concessionary passengers and fare paying passengers. Fuel costs are fully hedged for this year at 47 pence per litre (ppl) compared to 43 ppl last year. This will produce a first half cost increase of around £2m given we consume around 110m litres of fuel pa. We continue to recover the additional fuel cost from fares and consumption improvements. The cost of providing for accident claims is slightly below the same period last year, offset by slightly higher pension costs. Overall, cost control remains firm and we continue to make good progress with our cost saving initiatives. Go Ahead

Recommended Links A Transport of Delight: New station built in 7 days Omnibuses: Change of Culture TGPhotos Bus and Coach: Exeter New Park and Ride - Smart! PTOTPA Citybus 39 - Dial a Cab livery - see the hideous glory!

N103UTT Brand New

The start of the low floor revolution - in Plymouth

©EYBusman seen at Plaxtons before delivery to Plymouth Citybus, and looking very smart in the original low floor livery As usual you are encouraged to visit EYBusmans Flickr Stream to see more great photos!

Further Reading Plymothian Transit: Incoming EY Busman on Flickr Recommended Links PTOTPA: Last Day of SWT to Plymouth A Transport of Delight: Spelling error Omnibuses: Omnibuses meets Marc Morgan Huws

A few changes for January

VOSA registrations

It has been very quiet for the past few months but there have been a few bus route registrations posted on the VOSA web site from local operators just recently: PH0004983/31 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted: Operating between PLYMOUTH Bus Station and TORQUAY, Torbay Hotel given service number X80/X81 effective from 31-Jan-2010. To amend Timetable. PH0004983/243 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted: Operating between TORBAY HOSPITAL and TORQUAY MIDDLE WARBERRY ROAD given service number 64/65 effective from 31-Jan-2010. To amend Route. PH0004983/414 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Registration Accepted Starting Point: Paignton Finish Point: Torquay Via: Preston Service Number: X80/X81 Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 31-JAN-2010 Other Details: Every 30 Minutes Mon- sat 2 hourly Sunday & Public holidays. On the same day we also have PH0006742/5 - ROBERT JOHN RISK, 4 ARCADIA, ELBURTON, PLYMOUTH, PL9 8EF Variation Accepted: Operating between LANGAGE, PLYMPTON and LANGAGE, PLYMPTON given service number 53/53A effective from 26-Jan-2010. To amend Route and Timetable. PH0006742/33 - ROBERT JOHN RISK, 4 ARCADIA, ELBURTON, PLYMOUTH, PL9 8EF Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Royal Parade, Plymouth and Derriford given service number 14 effective from 04-Jan-2010. To amend Timetable. The X80 X81 is a bit of a mystery but it looks like the X81 shorts will now just be running between Paignton and Torquay rather than from Totnes as they do at the moment? I am sure all we be revealed in due course as First are very good at giving plenty of notice of new timetables.